An access network, such as a radio access network, may include a large number of network access nodes, for example, in small cell networks, so that a terminal device proximately located to the network access nodes may be within communicable range of a plurality of the network access nodes.
To increase data throughput, a transmission received at the terminal device may have additional bits encoded via properties of the signal itself, i.e., a transmission or a transmission source, such as a network access node, may have an identifying property distinct from other transmissions or transmission sources, and different from an identifier included within the payload of a data transmission. The terminal device may use the identifying property of the signal to identify additional encoded bits. Thus the greater the number of network access nodes in communicable range, the more a number of transmissions may be provided with various identifying properties than can be used to encode additional data. Accordingly, data throughput from the radio access network to the terminal device may be enhanced independently from channel conditions of the air interface.